ST. PAUL (AP) -- Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson's assertion that he spoke with Supreme Court justices about gay marriage or gay rights could have some truth to it, two senators who decided an ethics complaint against Johnson said.
GOP Sen. Tom Neuville of Northfield and DFL Sen. Wes Skoglund of Minneapolis said they couldn't dismiss the possibility that conversations took place.
Johnson apologized to the Senate on Monday for making inaccurate statements about the extent of the purported conversations, which came to light after a secret recording of him addressing pastors surfaced.
"I think it is possible he had a meeting and the topic came up," said Sen. Thomas Neuville, R-Northfield. "If push had come to shove, I think (Johnson) would have had witnesses. I didn't sense he was gaming or bluffing."
Chief Justice Russell Anderson has flatly denied any such conversations.
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Since the recording surfaced, Johnson has talked of having a conversation about the fate of Minnesota's marriage law with a single justice. But his attorney told the committee in the closed session that there were conversations between Johnson and more than one justice.
"If the committee tells us to name them, we will name them and we will call the witnesses who were in those meetings and heard those conversations," Ellen Sampson told the panel. "The issue of gay rights was part of these discussions."
